Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII (25 November 1881-3 June 1963), born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, was Pope from 28 October 1958 to 3 June 1963, succeeding Pope Pius XII and preceding Pope Paul VI.

Biography
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born in Sotto il Monte, Lombardy, Italy in 1881, and he became an ordained Catholic priest in 1904. He served as a nuncio in France, a delegate to Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, and Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Prisca and Patriarch of Venice in 1953. In 1958, he was elected Pope following the death of Pope Pius XII, and he called the historic Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965, during which he expressed his passionate views on equality. He made many passionate speeches during his brief pontificate, and he also eliminated the description of Jews as "perfidious" in the prayer for the conversion of Jews during the Good Friday liturgy, investigated questions of birth control, opposed divorce, advocated human rights for the unborn and the elderly, and made pastoral visits in Rome, the first Pope to do since 1870. Pope John died in 1963, before the council came to a close, and Pope Francis canonized Pope Saint John in 2013.